From the congested, waterlogged streets of Dhaka to flooded farmlands across the country, Bangladesh has enough problems right here. What is the point in looking to the sky when all it brings is rain? Why on earth are we trying to get to space? The team of BRAC University students that designed Onnesha, Bangladesh’s first read more

Rina Halim is in a rush today. Her husband is outside, waiting to take her to Dhaka. There she will be receiving the Mother Teresa Award for her social service, and for being an outstanding councilor. I watched her with curiosity as she breezed across the room, a vision in pink. She was clearly a read more

Date: 9-11 November 2017 Venue: BRAC CDM, Savar, Dhaka We believe that building a world that works for all of us takes all of us. The Frugal Innovation Forum is a platform for leaders from the global south to connect and explore solutions to the world’s toughest challenges. Development practitioners, social entrepreneurs, activists, policy-makers read more

It is a weekday afternoon in Moulvibazar, Rangpur, and the melody of children chanting times tables is wafting through the trees. School is over, but students are gathered under shady trees in the village courtyards for another round of lessons. Not just in this village, but in many others nearby as well. It is not read more

Brishty Akhter, 18, is a skilled tailor who owns a business where she trains and employs other girls in southern Bangladesh. She started learning tailoring at 16 and then her parents used the money that they had saved for her marriage to buy her the business. Brishty is a graduate of BRAC’s skills training for read more

Alpina Begum lives in the village of Nurpur in Netrokona of northern Bangladesh. By day, she does the usual: tending to the vegetables in her garden and cooking for her three daughters. But as soon as night falls, she replaces her sari with a colourful salwar kameez and swaps the bucket on her arm read more

Peeking from behind the tin door is Ibrahim’s two-year-old daughter, Amena, in a blue polka dot dress, and a kitten in her arms. Another kitten appears and darts across the courtyard. Ducklings scatter about in panic. Between his family, the cats, a parrot and 350 ducks, Ibrahim’s home is always buzzing with a little chaos. read more

According to the Pareto principle, 80% of the world’s wealth is in the hands of 20% of the people. Even if more resources are created, the distribution of the new wealth will follow the same rule. This rule does not only work in economics, but it also applies in science and sports for the prediction of results, read more

It is difficult to monetise how livestock impacts a household’s income, but it certainly increases resilience in vulnerable households. Growing rice or vegetables, especially in time of unpredictable weather and natural disasters, is often a risky venture. However, livestock is easier to take care of. For example, sheep and goats are adaptable assets that are read more

Every day, right before sunset, something wonderful happens in the village of Dhonokandi. As the western sky grows rosy pink, and the paddy fields on the east turn deep green, hundreds of brown little dots are suddenly seen scrambling in the horizon. Within minutes, a flock of quacking ducks approach the main road, and amongst read more